I agree that they should have gone with a 6-man rotation or found some way to work him less, but in the end, this is a decision driven more by Strasburg and his agent than anyone.

If the Sox had to shut down Sale right now, I would be very unhappy, but I'd get it.

If it came out of the blue, I'd be the same way - mad, but understanding. My problem with this decision is that they've been talking about this exact plan all season. So many other options and not a single one explored. On top of it, it sure seems like Rizzo and the Nationals are trying to protect him so that in 5 years he can get a massive deal from probably some other team. I mean, when has Boras ever had a client not take the most money available?

On SportsCenter, they compared Strasburg's innings to Kris Medlen from the Braves. Medlen's innings were a lot more spaced out compared to Strasburg. I get that Strasburg is looking for a big pay day soon, but I compared this to going full tilt during a long bike race, and then slamming on the brakes near the end. The Nats have a shot at the World Series, taking him right out of the race means that the Nats might have just thrown away the pennant.
You don't know what's going to happen next year, Gio could get hurt, Zimmerman (both of them) could have off years, I would have taken the Braves approach.

I understand, kind of, what the Nationals are doing. They made this plan in the off-season, at a time when very few people expected them to really contend. And, hey, if your team is hovering in third place, around .500 then I don't see what the big deal is. Why risk him getting hurt? What do you have to lose?

Flas forward to now. The Nats have the best record in the NL, and their rotation is really strong all the way around. Edwin Jackson is probably their worst pitcher, and he has an ERA+ of 112 (to contrast, the Sox only have three starters with an ERA+ over 100). It's unlikely that they'll collapse to the point that they'll miss out on the playoffs entirely. Will the 5 games he'll miss in September kill them? Probably not.

But in a short series, pitching is crucial. We of all people should all be intimate with that from 2005. Are their other 4 pitchers good enough to take them through the postseason? Probably. But given how difficult it can be to return to the playoffs - as people have said, who knows who else could get injured or have an off-year in 2013 - it makes so little sense to sit their best pitcher. It's not like he's going to be called upon to pitch another hundred innings. The most he's likely to pitch is 4, maybe 5 games. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 innings. Seems like it's contrary to the very nature of sports itself to handicap yourself in the postseason.

What happens if the Nats make the World Series and lose in 7? Will people say, "Everybody knows that the White Sox wouldn't have won if they'd had to face Strasburg a couple times"? It's a mockery of the sport.

I kind of respect the Nationals for making their plan and sticking to it no matter what. But I'd respect them more for showing some more respect for the game.

This is based on nothing but Im calling bs on this whole deal. There is either more to the story or he will be back this year. This is a team with their first shot in who knows how long and the way things go, maybe not another shot in even longer. You just cant give it away.

This is based on nothing but Im calling bs on this whole deal. There is either more to the story or he will be back this year. This is a team with their first shot in who knows how long and the way things go, maybe not another shot in even longer. You just cant give it away.

Heh, and who knows better than White Sox fans that sometimes your shot is just that one season?

Heh, and who knows better than White Sox fans that sometimes your shot is just that one season?

Or, as Leon Durham said with a shrug after losing three straight games to lose the best of five 1984 NLCS, we'll win it next year. And the theme for the 2004 Cubs was "armed and ready."

For the Nationals, this is shaping up to be a season that slips away, perhaps never to come back. Maybe they won't totally lose it at the end like the 6.5-up-with-12-to-go 1964 Phillies, but it would be justice for them to at least lose it in the postseason. Then when they never get back, you could have a Strasburg curse.

If this were a good plan, although one based on fuzzy science, Strasburg wouldn't have started his season until June. What good is having a great pitcher if you don't use him?

The Nationals did the exact same thing with Jordan Zimmerman's injury last season. Rizzo and Johnson have said all year this was their plan and they're sticking to it.

The thing a lot of people don't realize is even without SS, (who's been great but he's had some rough outings as the season went on) the Nationals still have an excellent rotation. Gonzalez now is 18-7 with a 2.99 ERA. Zimmerman 9-8, 3.01. Jackson 9-9, 3.63, and Detweiler 9-6, 3.15. That's a rotation a lot of teams would love to have. And John Lannan, who got dumped into AAA, was very capable with a 10-13 record and 3.70 ERA last year. He most likely will take Strasburg's place in the rotation. he may not overpower batters but he'll be solid.

Then you throw in a bullpen where aside from the little used Henry Rodriguez, you've got seven relievers with five of them having ERAs under 3 and the other two about 3.50. So their pitching is not going to implode and crash when SS sits down. I really don't know why the media is making such a huge deal out of it. Would they want him pitching in the postseason? Sure. But if something did happen and he regressed that would be awful.

The great thing here about the Nationals is they were supposed to contend for a Wild Card but that's it. This season has been a blast. Now they're 7 1/2 up on Atlanta and are probably a season or two ahead of where they should be. They've gone through some terrible seasons but have drafted well, rebuilt the farm system and made some good FA moves. Plus they're very young, so it's not like they have a rapidly closing window either. If they lose in the playoffs it won't be the end of the world, they'll probably be pretty good now for a few years.

I've adopted the Nats as my NL team and I'm perfectly fine shutting him down, so are most of the fans I know and the ones calling in on local radio here too. In fact a running joke is that him sitting will hurt the offense more, since he's a pretty good hitting pitcher. (.260 I think)